What course of action should I take to remove this debt!

[Anonymous]

I have debt on my CR from the Rickenbacker group for $1700 for a car I use to own that I sold but the buyer never transfered from my name.The car was towed by The local police towing service Roadone according to the CA it sat in the impound and accumilated fees at $25 a day plus towing.The CA is also sayin the principal is only $1200 and the rest is interest and the balance grows daily. they offered to delete this from my report for $1000 but I dont have that at the moment.

Should I call OC and find out exactly how long the car sat and if the car was sold at the auction or to a junk yard, a practice that i know this company carries. If this is what they did wouldnt I be cleared of the debt because they received a payment and can not still bill me after profiting.

what course of action can I take?

Message Edited by imfocused on 03-25-2009 09:30 AM

[llecs]

CRA = credit reporting agency. I take it you meant "CA" (collection agency), right?

Contacting the OC isn't bad. Also look within your city's statutes to see if procedure was followed and to see if the interest and fees were allowed by law. Otherwise, I'd wait until SOL has expired or your have the $$$ to PIF before tackling this debt.

[upinflagstaff]

This is almost the exact circumstances behind Twyla v Boatley. My opinion regarding this on your CRA is that they are not legally entitled to pull your credit nor are they allowed to report on your credit since you did not have a credit relationship with the CA. Of course I am not a lawyer, but if you ask one they might be able to help clear this up.

Whether the debt is valid or not because of the title is a different question. Here in AZ the seller drops the title in the mail (no notary needed) to get the title and registration out of their name.

[Anonymous]

Also, do you have any proof you sold the car and when?

[Anonymous]

Thanks guy's for all the info. Yes Illec I meant CA, this all oeiginally took place in 05' and is just now being reported so unfortunately i no longer have any of that proof. I moved from California in 11/04 and the car was towed in 3/05. The CA said they tried contacting me at a old address but I was no longer at the old address.

So how do I go about finding out the SOL in California? 

[Anonymous]

Do you think I should send them a DV letter?

[llecs]

SOL:

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/cc/20040116b2.asp

If you are inside SOL, then I wouldn't touch it. If outside SOL, then start with a DV. BTW, the applicable SOL would likely be under "open", but you'd need to review the specific code on that. I'm not from Cali but I listen to a legal radio show via thw web based in LA and it seems like there is a specific SOL on towing and recovery of fees.

[Anonymous]

According to the link and what the CA told me the SOL would of expired last month or coming up soon in the next month. I made the mistake of calling the CA about the account yesterday. will this hurt me? They said they mailed out letters in 05 but since I was just verbally notified yesterday can I still DV?

[Anonymous]

I am confused, you say you sold the car but you are accepting to clear it up if you could afford it. Why? You have no bill of sale? copy of the title transfer you filed out, whether or not it was filed by the buyer? The SOL seems irrelevant if you moved during the time they sent you the letters, technically they did their part, so it should hold valid. Can you clear up the timeline a bit because simply based on what you said, you are stuck with it and I don't see how you are going to get out of it. Although if llecs and sidewinder think you have a shot, then I would go with it and try.

[Anonymous]

ok guardian the thing is I moved from Cali in 11/04 i had the car put up to keep ( it was 91 caprice all fixed up on 22' rims) but when I was in VA things got tough and weren't going like I planned so I had a friend sell the car for me to another guy I knew this was in 2/05.in 8/08 I saw the CA pop up on my credit report I disputed the issue but it was validated. I recently had a Kroll credit check because i'm in the process of closing on a house and on the report it said that the debt was validated by my name and social which made me call the CA to find out what the hell was going on they let me know about the car had been towed and never picked up, and that it was still registered to me and they mailed out things to my old address but received no responce. the dude i sold it to is now doing 15-life so im not getting anywhere there so when she offered to delete this for $1000 I considered paying because I need my score to stay good for the house.

I talked to a cousin that worked as a collection agent for a long time who said if they offered$100 they will go lower but it will not be deleted, he said they will deleted the first month but it will show back up is this true?